1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cable protector intended to protect the operating cable for a remote-controlled underwater craft from wear or getting caught on any part of the surface mother-ship from which operations with craft are being carried out.
2. Description of the Related Art
Unmanned cable-controlled underwater craft of the type concerned here have in recent years, had a very broad range of application insofar as they can be provided with both television cameras for seabed and wreck exploration, and manipulators for carrying out even highly complicated work guided by what the cameras see. Insofar as these craft as a rule operate from a surface mother-ship, it is in most cases the conditions on the surface of the water which are decisive with regard to whether work can be carried out or not.
For example, it is not possible to operate under conditions in which there is a risk of the operating cable being damaged in such a way that the underwater craft could be lost. In heavy seas and when the mother-ship has to travel at a certain speed through the water at the same time as the underwater craft has to move over large areas, e.g. during hunting for wrecks or mines or during seabed exploration, there is a great risk of the operating cable of the underwater craft being damaged by wearing against or by getting caught on the surface mother-ship.
An object of the present invention is to provide a cable protector for such cable-controlled underwater craft, which prevents wearing against and catching on the surface mother-ship both in high seas and when the ship travels at a certain speed through the water. The cable protector should also always allow the operating cable to run out in the direction of the craft at the same time as it prevents, in this connection, the operating cable being bent in too tight a curve which could lead to damage to the same.
The cable protector according to the invention is designed in such a manner that it guides the operating cable out of its protective cover at such a great depth that the cable runs completely clear of the surface mother-ship in all directions, even when the ship and/or the craft travels at a certain speed through the water. In order to be capable of performing this function, the cable protector must thus have a not inconsiderable length. At the same time it must be capable of being taken aboard the surface mother-ship without major problems, and it must not in itself cause water resistance which is so great that problems consequently arise as far as operation of the underwater craft is concerned.
It has now been possible to take all these requirements, which are individually important and in some cases difficult to combine, into consideration and the result is the cable protector as described hereinafter.